Themed collection ChemComm 60th Anniversary Historic Papers from North America

We discuss current and future peptidic scaffolds as regenerative therapies, with a focus on development of complex and integrated systems.

Organic nonlinear optical materials for electro-optical and multiphoton absorption applications have improved significantly in recent years based upon the development of structure–property relationships on the molecular level.

Electrochromic devices based on plasmon resonances in colloidal nanocrystals represent an important step towards realizing smart windows with ideal performance.

An overview of transition-metal carbide and nitride materials as heterogeneous catalysts for electrochemical hydrogen evolution.

The use of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as a catalyst support in organic synthesis is summarized. The recovery of expensive catalysts after catalytic reaction and reusing them without losing their activity is an essential feature in the sustainable process development; this article highlights the progress in the synthesis and catalytic applications of magnetic catalysts in organic synthesis.

Understanding the effect of functional sites on the MOF CO₂ adsorption capacity and selectivity.

Recent advances in applying heterogeneous nanostructures as electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage devices such as lithium–ion batteries and supercapacitors.

Depletion of fossil oil deposits and the escalating threat of global warming have put clean energy research on the urgent agenda. In this feature article, we provide an overview of the current status of clean energy applications of porous MOFs, including hydrogen storage, methane storage and carbon dioxide capture.

Recent developments in the construction of self-assembled supramolecular donor–acceptor conjugates with porphyrins/naphthalocyanines as the donor and fullerenes/nanotubes as the electron acceptors by adopting different self-assembly protocols are discussed.

Molecular oxygen can be used as the sole stoichiometric oxidant for a variety of Pd^II-catalyzed oxidation reactions.

The synthesis of gold nanorods has been well-described in the literature. The optical properties of gold nanorods are receiving great attention as novel chemical sensing and biological imaging agents.

The design of octahedral metal complexes that bind DNA non-covalently and react with site-specifity are described. We focus on complexes that bind utilizing metallo-intercalation or that target single base mismatches through metallo-insertion.

This review highlights recent advances in controlled release drug/gene delivery and biosensor applications of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) along with investigations regarding cellular uptake and internalization.

We examine the emerging chemical and structural trends in the field of inorganic–organic framework structures and discuss some of the nascent applications of this vast and exciting class of materials.

Intramolecular and intermolecular catalytic direct arylation reactions of simple arenes: methodological development and application in organic synthesis

Water is an excellent solvent for organic chemistry and microwave heating offers very efficient heating. In this article, the use of these two techniques in the Suzuki coupling reaction is discussed.

The current and potential impact of crystal engineering on how the pharmaceutical industry evolves its approach towards formulation of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API's) is featured in the context of polymorphs and co-crystals. Carbamazepine, an API that exemplifies the issues and challenges raised by polymorphs and co-crystals, forms co-crystals with saccharin as illustrated.

Some of the more spectacular successes of atomic pair distribution function (PDF) analysis of powder diffraction data in studying the structure of complex materials and compounds.

We report a low-cost water-in-salt electrolyte (WiSE), of 30 m ZnCl₂, which enables a dendrite-free Zn metal anode to possess a high coulombic efficiency.

An edge-rich and dopant-free ORR electrocatalyst was designed by the plasma etching strategy and the as-designed catalyst shows a one-step and four-electron pathway.

Herein we show that heating 2D Ti₃C₂ in air resulted in TiO₂ nanocrystals on thin sheets of disordered graphitic carbon structures that can handle extremely high cycling rates when tested as anodes in lithium ion batteries.

Including HCl in the synthesis of UiO-66 produces material with higher than expected surface area due to presence of missing linkers per zirconium-cluster nodes.

A conductive/porous MWCNT interlayer effectively reduces the impedance and retains the dissolved active material in Li–S cells.

Prussian blue and its analogues consisting of different transition-metal ions (Fe, Mn, Ni, Cu, Co and Zn) have been synthesized at room temperature.

A well dispersed SnSb/C nanocomposite is demonstrated as anode for Na-ion batteries. The electrode could deliver a capacity of over 500 mA h g⁻¹ based on alloying reactions with good rate capability and cyclability.

Graphene–sulfur composites with sulfur contents as high as 87 wt% are prepared using a simple one-pot, scalable method. The graphene envelops the sulfur particles, providing a conductive shrink-wrap for electron transport. These materials are efficient cathodes for Li–S batteries, yielding 93% coulombic efficiency over 50 cycles with good capacity.

We report the first example of an Al-ion rechargeable battery comprised of a metallic aluminium anode and a V₂O₅ nano-wire cathode in an ionic liquid electrolyte.

First in situ high-pressure FTIR spectroscopy revealed strongly contrasting pressure behavior and unusual chemical stability of ZIF-8 under compression.

The first nanoscale luminescent metal–organic framework has been realized for the straightforward and highly sensitive sensing of nitroaromatic explosives in enthanol solution.

Amino, bromo, nitro, and naphthalene terephthalic acids were utilized in the isoreticular synthesis of functionalized microcrystalline frameworks with the UiO-66 topology. The amino functionalized framework, UiO-66–NH₂, was postsynthetically modified with aliphatic and cyclic anhydrides generating amide-functionalized materials.

In this study we have found that cerium oxide nanoparticles exhibit catalase mimetic activity. Surprisingly, the catalase mimetic activity correlates with a reduced level of cerium in the +3 state, in contrast to the relationship between surface charge and superoxide scavenging properties.

Composites of Si nanoparticles highly dispersed between graphene sheets, and supported by a 3-D network of graphite formed by reconstituting regions of graphene stacks exhibit high Li ion storage capacities and cycling stability.

A new technology has been developed that accomplishes the direct conversion of urine and urea to pure hydrogen via electrochemical oxidation with an inexpensive nickel catalyst.

The photoluminescence in carbon dots could be quenched efficiently by electron acceptor or donor molecules in solution, namely that photoexcited carbon dots are both excellent electron donors and excellent electron acceptors, thus offering new opportunities for their potential uses in light energy conversion and related applications.

Hydrolases show good catalytic activity in deep eutectic solvents, despite the presence of urea, which can denature enzymes, or alcohols, which can interfere with hydrolase-catalyzed reactions.

SOD mimetics are currently being tested in clinical trials as novel drugs to reduce superoxide levels in tissues. Vacancy Engineered nanoceria exhibits potent SOD mimetic activity and thus may represent a novel class of nanomaterials that can be further developed into clinical applications in the near future.

New PEG-based hydrogel materials have been synthesized by Click chemistry and shown to result in well-defined networks having significantly improved mechanical properties.

A new crystalline microporous metal–organic framework compound featuring chiral (salen)Mn struts is long-lived and highly effective as a substrate-size-selective asymmetric catalyst for olefin epoxidation.

On-line droplet–droplet extraction and electrospray ionization for direct, continual analysis by mass spectrometry of trace components in complex samples such as raw undiluted urine.

¹³C and ^35/37Cl NMR relaxation measurements on several model systems demonstrate that the solvation of cellulose by the ionic liquid (IL) 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C₄mim]Cl) involves hydrogen-bonding between the carbohydrate hydroxyl protons and the IL chloride ions in a 1 ∶ 1 stoichiometry.

Unsymmetrical dendrimers, containing both mannose binding units and coumarin fluorescent units, have been prepared using click chemistry and shown to be highly efficient, dual-purpose recognition/detection agents for the inhibition of hemagglutination.

Mass spectrum of RDX recorded at a level of 50 fmol mm⁻² from a non-conducting surface in a time of a few seconds without any sample preparation.

Self-powered nanorotors have been prepared from barcoded gold–nickel nanorods having the gold end anchored to the surface of a silicon wafer. Constant velocity circular movements are observed when hydrogen peroxide fuel is catalytically decomposed to oxygen at the unattached nickel end of the nanorod.

Iron oxide (Fe₃O₄, magnetite) nanocrystals of 6 to 30 nm with narrow size distributions (σ = 5–10%) were prepared by the pyrolysis of iron carboxylate salts.

Liquid clathrate formation appears as a general phenomena when common ionic liquids are mixed with aromatic hydrocarbons. In the system 1,3-dimethylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate–benzene, the aromatic solute was also trapped as a crystalline 2∶1 inclusion compound.

The carboxylic acid-pyridine supramolecular heterosynthon can be exploited to predictably generate binary crystalline phases involving rac-ibuprofen, rac-flurbiprofen or aspirin.